Evan Shepard is a young man with a chequered past when he first meets the Drakes, after his car breaks down outside their house. Behind him, he has a troubled adolescence, a failed marriage and a little daughter, but his meeting with the quiet and beautiful Rachel heralds a new start. However, after their swift marriage, things don't work out quite as planned and the stresses of living with Rachel's family, in their shared house in Cold Spring Harbor, begin to take their toll on the new couple.

Richard Yates was born in 1926 in New York and lived in California. His prize-winning stories began to appear in 1953 and his first novel,Revolutionary Road,was nominated for the National Book Award in 1961. He is the author of eight other works, including the novelsA Good School, The Easter Parade, andDisturbing the Peace, and two collections of short stories,Eleven Kinds of LonelinessandLiars in Love. He died in 1992.

A brilliantly written exploration of youth and self-delusion by the author of Revolutionary Road